How in the world do I tell my wife about this one? In case you haven't
heard, the hard drive on my 8-month-old iMac died. I lost
everything. Well, I do have a few backups, but not of my original
digital artwork files. Egads! Stab a knife into my heart! How stupid could I be? We just didn't have any money for an external hard drive, and backing up to CDs is a royal pain when you have a lot of files to backup. Plus, I do backups all day for teachers at Ann Arbor Public Schools, and I just didn't feel like doing more when I got home from work. Oh stupid me! My wife already knows this part of the story, though.
Apple replaced the hard drive free of charge. Now I have to rebuild my entire digital art resources library. But that's not what this little story is about. While I was in the Apple Store, I saw all the "backup" solutions the store had conveniently placed on the shelves quite near where you pick up your repaired computer. The new Apple OS "Leopard" has a built-in program called "Time Machine" that will automatically backup your files provided you have an external source to backup to. Surprise! Apple has a wireless external hard drive called "Time Capsule" that I believe came out the same time as Leopard. I kept looking at it, and in my weakened state from the nightmares I've had about losing all my files, I grabbed one and charged it. Oh I am so dead! My wife pays the bills, so there is no way I can hide the purchase. The Time Capsule is actually sitting right out in the open in my art/computer room, but I don't believe she will notice it. But when she does, I am so dead!